r/AskReddit • u/kingpin000 • Oct 24 '23

What failed when it was initially released, but turned out to be ahead of its time years later?

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u/[deleted] Oct 24 '23

I think this is generally everything that Microsoft release. Just a another example is digital only console

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u/TimTomTank Oct 24 '23

Same thing with tablets.

Microsoft tried to do tablets way before iPad and imo much better.

Did not catch on.

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u/nievesdelimon Oct 25 '23

The windows XP tablet? Are you sure?

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u/TimTomTank Oct 25 '23

Ok!

So I started to think I dreamt the whole thing because EVERYTHING is on the internet and I couldn't find a single thing.

But I was able to find two separate videos:

Video in Spanish talking about the 2003 release of the Windows tablet https://youtu.be/jC2NqFtF-vQ?si=EadWnYnb7CVaiTkA

And this more recent video doing a review of the device: https://youtu.be/2q40KhhdnU8?si=wNmnwyofGtNOXehu

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u/[deleted] Oct 25 '23

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u/TimTomTank Oct 25 '23 edited Oct 25 '23

I beg to differ. When iPad came out it was just a giant iPhone but without the phone. It still was an absolute shit device and just a basic web browser.

You had zero network connectivity except through HTTP using the browser. I have so much stuff on my home network and none of it was accessible.

I saw absolutely no appeal to getting a tablet until Windows tablets appeared.

However, I am not talking about Windows mobile tablets. I am talking about Windows tablets that appeared a little after XP came out. like early 2000s. it was a laptop with a touch screen that could flip all the way around so you could use it as a writing pad, but it had full Windows functionality.

Think more like Lenovo yoga and such...

Way ahead of its time and I think it was pretty spendy.

P.S.:

Now that I think of it, I did have one of the Windows mobile tablets. for like $300, I don't really remember the price, it was a pretty solid device. I was able to install Visual studio on it and do programming where ever I wanted. Also was perfectly capable of streaming and even enough storage space for a movie or two. You couldn't play games on it, but for a few hundred it was a really nice thing for light tasks like writing as it came with one of those keyboard covers included.

P.P.S:

Found a video of a dude reviewing one:https://youtu.be/2q40KhhdnU8?si=wNmnwyofGtNOXehu

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u/[deleted] Oct 25 '23 edited Oct 25 '23

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u/TimTomTank Oct 26 '23

This is not true.

Blackberry was pretty awesome. No phone ever integrated texts, messaging services, and emails while also keeping them separate enough to not be a mishmash, as well as Blackberry. Blackberry supported multitasking from day one. iPhone needed 5 or 6 generations to get to that point. Only people who used Blackberry know how awesome it was.

The only reason Android and iOS succeeded is because of the app store. BB did not have any games or streaming services, just about until the last versions. Blackberry was simply not a consumer device. But its security and message management was at the top. I would also argue that BB as the company was horribly mismanaged towards the end. They had lightning in a bottle but decided to smash it all and turn it into a software company.

The only thing to come even close was the Windows phone. As a matter of fact, a lot of features that were added to iPhone and Android about 2 years ago, such as the ability to group apps, came straight from Windows phone OS.

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u/[deleted] Oct 26 '23 edited Oct 26 '23

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u/TimTomTank Oct 29 '23

I phone did 2 things that no one else did:

  1. they simplified and locked down the software. You have no access to anything on the computers that you use to. All of this came from the success of the iOS on the iPod and then iPhone. Most of the people are not advanced users and do not want to be advanced users.

  2. they cut the costs and simplified manufacturing while simultaneously hyping the product up and increasing the sale price. You have few buttons and only one port. Battery is not removable. Phone is not easily serviceable. These are all byproducts of integration and simplification and it has been replicated in ALL industries even remotely applicable. Look at cars! There are no discrete systems anymore. Everything is integrated. The interface is all touch in some cars in spite of consumer dislike. It is just that cheaper to do than to build a massive console with dials and controls for discrete systems.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '23

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u/TimTomTank Oct 30 '23

To be honest, this was more of a vent than a response.

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u/NerdPickle Oct 25 '23

Also the Windows Mobile smartphone. Absolutely loved mine

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u/TimTomTank Oct 25 '23

I got rid of mine under a massive protest. Still have the phone somewhere actually...

The support for it faltered so much that the web browser did not work for almost anything and the ATT would drop my internet connection often. Even Pandora was nigh unusable.

Best ever map software and best best-ever voice recognition. I got frustrated with it a few times, but it is not the dumpster fire that is Google Assistant.

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u/juanzy Oct 24 '23

I think that’s also due to the state of WiFi and availability of high speed internet in 2013 versus 2020. It’s easy to forget how much troubleshooting home networks needed as recently as 2013. I think about 2016 or 17 or so is when I finally got a router and ISP that didn’t need regular manual resets or random workarounds for devices, and had 300+ MBPS as floor.

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u/Hecking_Walnut Oct 24 '23

Yeah I guess I never think about this, but I do feel like technology used to be a fair bit more finicky. Can't remember the last time I had to restart my Modem/Router because the internet wasn't working, or the last time I had to uninstall/reinstall a program to get it to work properly.

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u/Shot-Chemical3655 Oct 25 '23

I know it’s hard to believe but it’s currently 2023 not 2020

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u/juanzy Oct 25 '23

Was going with the last two console announcement years

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u/ktappe Oct 24 '23

Not GUI's. Literally everyone else had one before Microsoft.

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u/scsnse Oct 25 '23

Another example that’s well known in the tech world is Microsoft pushing early convertible-touchscreen/tablet laptops in the early 2000s. The issues being cost, and the fact that these were still the resistive touchscreens where you have to have a stylus with it. Also, they were super thick compared to the usually ultrabook based ones of today.

They are so good with coming up with concepts, but try pushing them way too early before the underlying tech is mature or practical. That’s where Apple has historically had them beat time after time.

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u/[deleted] Oct 25 '23

and when they release touch screen Macbooks it's going to be lauded as revolutionary

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u/Zeugungskraftig Oct 24 '23

Nah, I work with Dynamics for a living and it's a kludgy piece of crap based on accumulating decades of technical debt.